


In the Dying Light

by theHunter_and_theNinja



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Bisexual! Daryl, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-09
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2020-11-28 11:20:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20965709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theHunter_and_theNinja/pseuds/theHunter_and_theNinja
Summary: Daryl notices his growing feeling for Connie, but tries to ignore them because he knows that someone like her would never settle for someone like him.





	1. Sunset

**Author's Note:**

> This story starts before the Kingdom's Fair.

Daryl winced as he rolled his shoulder. Beta had got him good during that fight when he’d slammed him against the wall. His back and shoulders ached from taking the brunt of the hits. He was so used to being the most imposing person in the room that getting thrown around like a rag doll was a new experience for him. He took a deep breath and rounded the corner to see Connie and Lydia standing over Henry. He had a sizable wound on his leg that they were wrapping with Connie’s outer shirt, leaving her in just a simple black tank top.

Daryl walked forward to get Connie’s attention, “I’m going to go get some first aid supplies from your stash. I’ll be back.”

She nodded in understanding before going back to the task at hand.

“Did you kill him?” Lydia asked him, gazing up at him.

“Yeah,” Daryl admitted.

She looked neither happy nor upset at the news. Daryl wondered if she even knew what to feel about his death.

Daryl left the area and walked back to where the stash was. As he bent over to climb down into the hole, he felt a sharp pain run up his back and he flinched. He really couldn’t afford to be injured right now, but he wasn’t as young as he used to be. A couple years ago he could’ve walked off that fight like it was nothing, but not anymore. He groaned and leaned back in an attempt to get the pain to dissipate. He was mildly successful, but he’d have to be careful how he moved for a few days.

He grabbed the gauze and disappeared back downstairs, covering the stash before he left. He felt his right hip protesting his continued movement the further down the stairs he went. He did his best to ignore it and pretend like he was totally fine. He’d have to walk behind the group on their way back, however, to avoid being found out.

He tried to discreetly massage his hip while Connie and Lydia worked together to bandage Henry’s leg. When they were satisfied with their work, they helped Henry up onto his feet and gave him his staff to use as a crutch. Daryl knew the trek to Alexandria, the nearest community, was going to be a slow one. A fact he was actually thankful for this time. Hopefully the two women’s attention would be focused on Henry enough that his minor injuries would go unnoticed.

Dog came over and licked his hand in a bid for attention. Daryl smiled down at his companion and reached lower to pet him, ruffling his thick fur. He glanced up and saw Connie watching them. She quickly looked away though, pretending to have not been staring at them just now. Daryl wondered why she was scared of him seeing her watch Dog, but dismissed the thought.

They set off in the direction of Alexandria, Henry and Lydia talking casually to each other the whole way like some giant hadn’t just tried to kill them. Connie fell back behind them and in step with Daryl, much to his disappointment. He now had to work twice as hard to hide his limp and the fact that his crossbow was weighing on his injured shoulder.

Connie didn’t stop walking, but handed him her notebook.

_ “I know you’re in pain.” _

Daryl looked over at her, “I’m fine.”

She rolled her eyes and took her notebook back.

_ “No, you’re not. You’re limping.” _

Daryl hung his head and bit his lip after reading that. Daryl glanced over at her, surprised and a little impressed that she’d noticed despite Henry’s more obvious injury. He’d always been able to hide his injuries in the past from Rick and the rest of his family. How was she able to see what others so easily overlooked?

“It’s fine,” he told her, “Beta slammed me into the walls a few times. I’ve had worse.”

_ “That’s not a good thing.” _

Daryl sighed as he read her note. He knew telling her that he’d had worse wasn’t the best brag, but he didn’t want her worrying about him. They needed to be focusing on Henry who was actually losing blood due to his injury.

He reached over and rested his hand on her shoulder.

“I’ll rest at Alexandria,” he promised her.

She rolled her eyes again, _ “Stubborn idiot.” _

Daryl snorted at her note, but nodded his head. Now that was something he was willing to admit to being.

* * *

Daryl winced as he sat down on the dock. It wasn’t the best place to rest his battered body, but he didn’t feel like going any closer to the houses than he had to. He feared that Michonne would notice his pain and make him go to the infirmary. The last thing he wanted to do was use up medical supplies for a few minor injuries. He’d rather save that stuff for the people who really needed it.

He heard footsteps coming up behind him, but he didn’t turn to see who it was. Instead, he kept his gaze out on the water, watching it lap against the shore. He heard and felt the person sit down next to him, still not saying anything. He felt a hand tap his shoulder and he looked over to see that it was Connie sitting next to him. She was holding out her notebook for him to take.

_ “I can massage your shoulder if you like?” _

He looked back over at her and could tell that she was worried about him. She motioned for him to turn the page, so he did.

_ “You’ll be of no use to us if your shooting arm is injured.” _

Daryl knew she was right, even if he really didn’t want to admit it. Just carrying the crossbow had hurt him. He didn’t want to think about having to shoot it while he shoulder was in this much pain.

Daryl nodded in defeat, “go ahead.”

She smiled and moved to sit behind him. He tensed when he felt her fingers graze his shoulder to the first time. She just kept moving her hands lightly over his shoulder and upper back until he relaxed into her touch. He grunted when she actually started her massage, not pulling any punches. Her fingers dug into the spots that hurt the most, massaging the sore muscle. Eventually, however, her movements started to feel good on his arm and the pain was lessening. It hadn’t disappeared altogether, but he could tell her massage was greatly helping him.

She only stopped when her hands became too tired to keep going. He rolled his shoulder and thanked her for her help. She just smiled at him and then turned to look out across the water. They just sat there in silence, enjoying the outdoors. He was glad that she didn’t try to push him to go see the doctor like Michonne would’ve. It was nice to be able to just sit in silence with someone he respected and watch the sun sank in the sky.

Daryl glanced over at Connie and noticed that she had her eyes closed. He hair was moving ever so slightly in the breeze, her face bathed in all the colors of the setting sun. He couldn’t help but admit to himself that she was beautiful. He bit lip at the thought and ducked his head. He couldn’t allow himself to think like that. Even if he did end up falling for her, he could never let himself think about telling her. Someone as kind and perfect as her would never settle for someone as fucked up as him.

He was used to loving people who would never loved him back, this time would be no different. He’d loved Rick so much, but had to accept being only his brother. He’d loved people before the turn too, but never told any of them because he knew who he was. He was just some dumb white trash, redneck who wouldn’t have amounted to anything in his previous life. So he just saved the sunset lit image of her to his memory and pushed his thoughts aside not wanting them to ruin the peaceful moment he was sharing with her.

He couldn’t even bring himself to change his sitting position when his hip twinged and butt started to protest from fear of her leaving or breaking the silence. He wanted to stay here for as long as she would let them. The sun finally disappeared behind the walls of Alexandria, covering the entire area in darkness. Lights had come on behind them as the sun had disappeared, making sure they weren’t in total darkness. Daryl sighed deeply knowing that they should turn in for the night. Michonne wasn’t going to allow Lydia to stay more than one night knowing that her people were after her. They would travel to Hilltop in the morning to drop Henry and Connie off before Daryl would disappear with Lydia until the heat died down.

He didn’t want to leave, but he couldn’t stand the thought of sending Lydia back to her mother when it was abundantly clear she was abusive and Lydia wanted nothing to do with her anymore. To send Lydia back now would be to send her to her death. However, he couldn’t allow her to stay in the communities because her presence could insight another war and he needed to protect the people he loved. Carol was at the kingdom so he wouldn’t have to say good-bye to her and it was only then that he realized that the hardest goodbye he’d have to make tomorrow, besides to Tara, was to Connie.


	2. Stay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tara asks Daryl to stay until after the fair.

Daryl groaned as Tara pestered him to stay. He was sitting in her office in Barrington, which used to be Maggie’s, resting his feet on the fancy coffee table. Maggie would’ve glared at him for doing that, but Tara was actually sitting on the damn thing looking at him.

“Come on, at least stay for the fair,” She begged him, “You know Carol would be hurt if you didn’t go.”

“You know why I have to disappear,” Daryl reminded her.

Tara rolled her eyes and shook her head at him.

“Alpha has no idea Lydia is here. You can stay until after the fair.”

“Why do you want me to stay so bad?” he questioned her, confused.

He watched as he shoulders slumped down and she hung her head.

“I’ve been struggling to take control of Hilltop now that Jesus is gone. I know I was doing most of it before anyway while he was sneaking around with Aaron, but for some reason it’s so much harder now. I could really use your help keeping Hilltop organized during the fair,” she admitted, finally.

Daryl sighed deeply. He could see the stress in the bags under her eyes and the tension in her shoulders. He knew he would feel awful leaving her right now. Jesus had been a close friend of hers and she’d barely had time to mourn his death with everything going on.

“Fine, but then we’re gone,” Daryl relented.

Tara smiled brightly at him.

“Thank you!” she breathed, “I hope you’re okay with being in charge of packing the wagon.”

“Yeah.”

Tara gave him a firm hug before handing over a list of everything that needed to go into the wagon to be taken to the Kingdom. He read over it briefly before leaving the office just to see how long it would take him to round everything up.

“Maybe you should ask Connie to help you?” Tara teased from behind him.

Daryl glared at her over his shoulder, but she just laughed. He had no idea how she’d figured it out, but it was annoying. She kept winking at him whenever she saw them together and Connie wasn’t looking. He’d taken to flipping her off whenever she did that, which of course only made her tease him more.

Daryl left Tara’s office and made his way downstairs to his room. Paul had always made sure that he had a place to stay whenever he came back to Hilltop even during his years hiding out in the woods. The inside had been cleaned as per usual. He wasn’t sure who was doing it, but he did appreciate coming in to a clean room whenever he chose to show up.

The walls were mostly bare with only a few old landscape paintings hanging up. There are two windows at the back of the room on either side of the bed. The bed itself was quite large, Daryl figured it was probably a king sized bed. It was covered in a dark red and gold comforter which matched the drapes. The whole room was much fancier than anywhere Daryl had stayed before. Everything was just too nice for someone like him. He’d honestly felt more at home in the prison than he does here.

Daryl sat down at the old wooden desk in front corner of the room and looked closer at the list. There was a lot of fruit and vegetables to pick and pack, items made by the blacksmith to load up, and handmade clothes to load up, and so much more. He was going to need some help if he was going to get all this done by noon tomorrow when they were set to leave. Daryl sighed, he couldn’t help it when his brain immediately told him to go ask Connie for help. It would be a great excuse to spend time with her.

Daryl grabbed the list and winced as his hip twinged when he got up. He was still feeling the aftereffects of his fight with Beta in his shoulder and hip. His shoulder felt much better than his hip thanks to Connie’s massage, but he was way too shy to ask Connie to massage his hip. His face had gone red enough when she massaged his shoulder.

He left his room and made his way outside, hoping to run into Connie so that he wouldn’t have to go looking for her. He heard Dog bark and he glanced over to his left and saw Dog curled up at Connie’s feet while she talked to her sister. She must’ve felt Dog move because she looked up at him. She didn’t hesitate to smile and wave at him. Daryl returned the gesture and took it was a sign that he was welcome to approach. He felt unsure as he approached Connie and Kelly, but he hoped he did well in hiding it.

_ “Hi Daryl, _” Connie signed smiling up at him from where she was sitting.

Luckily it was one of the few phrases he already knew. He’d been surprised when he found out that she was using his scar to represent him since most people didn’t like calling attention to it. The way he’d gotten it wasn’t a happy memory, but she’d turned it into something happier.

Kelly just nodded at him, throwing a slightly knowing glance at her sister.

Dog barked happily and got up to greet his master, his tail wagging joyously.

To break the tension Daryl felt, he bent down to pet Dog so that he didn’t have to immediately jump into asking them to help him. He had originally only intended to ask Connie, but he figured it would be weird to not ask both of them since they were together. He stood up, shaking his hair out of his face and finished making his way over to them.

“Hey,” he said awkwardly as he came to a stop in front of them.

He was a little glad that Connie was deaf right now because it meant she couldn’t hear the nervousness he was sure was present in his voice. He knew she could probably read it in his body language, but he did his best to ignore that fact.

_ “I don’t have my notebook. What’s up? _” Connie signed.

“Uh...” Daryl looked over to Kelly for some translation.

“She doesn’t have her notebook. What’s up?” she supplied thankfully.

Daryl nodded in understanding, “Tara’s asked me to load up the wagon for the fair and I could use some help if you’re interested.”

He watched Connie sign something to her sister who signed back at her. He waited for a little bit as he waited for the sisters to be done talking to each other. He desperately wished he could understand what they were saying. He would have to try to find an ASL book to help him learn at some point. He’d have plenty of time to look when he left with Lydia. He hadn’t told Connie yet that he was planning on leaving again and he really wasn’t looking forward to it.

“Sure, we’re free,” Kelly finally said to him.

Daryl nodded, “Thanks. I think we should start with the blacksmith’s stuff since that’ll be the heaviest.”

The girls nodded and stood to follow him to the blacksmith’s shed, Dog happily falling into step with Connie.

* * *

It was dark out by the time they’d finished most of the stuff on the list. He’d decided to wait and pick the fruit and vegetables tomorrow so that they’d be as fresh as possible for tomorrow. Connie signed something at Kelly and she left, waving her goodbye. Over the course of the afternoon, they’d helped him learn more sign language so that he could communicate basics with Connie easier.

He felt nervous now that he was alone with Connie for the first time since they sat alone on that dock. She’d stopped to pick up her notebook a few hours ago in anticipation for their being alone, something she’d secretly hoped would happen. Daryl leaned back against the picnic bench which unfortunately caused him to unwillingly wince as his hip yelled at him again. Connie saw it and immediately began writing on her notepad.

_ “Why didn’t you tell me your hip was hurting you?” _

“I’m fine,” he tried to play it off.

He had to downplay it because he wasn’t sure he’d survive having her touch him there, let alone for an extended period of time and with such attention.

_ “You could ask for some pain meds." _

Daryl shook his head, “Someone else might need them more later.”

She rolled her eyes at his stubbornness, but dropped the subject.

_ “How’s your shoulder?” _

“Much better,” he said and then signed, _ “Thank you.” _

She smiled at his use of sign language. He was one of the only people actually putting effort into learning sign language. It made her unbelievably happy that he was trying so hard to learn how to speak her language.

“How do you say, ‘How are you?’” he asked her.

She moved her hands to show him how and watched as he copied her movements. Once he’d gotten the hang of it she showed him how to say a few of the common responses to that question. She spent the next hour or so teaching Daryl how to hold a basic conversation in sign language and by the end he was fairly good at it.

He caught a mischievous gleam in her eye as she watched him practice saying a phrase she’d just taught him.

_ “What?” _ he said aloud and signed much to his own surprise.

She just shook her head and grabbed her notebook.

_ “You sign with a southern accent.” _

His brows creased when he read it, “Really?”

He’d had no idea that you could even have an accent while signing. She laughed at his confusion, placing her hand on his shoulder. He tensed under her touch, but only for a second. He was thankful when she didn’t pull her hand away. He could see in her face that she was debating about something and he was about to ask her about it, but then she turned and scooted closer to him. He sucked in his breath quickly when he felt her head come to rest on his shoulder and her hand slip down to rest on his forearm, just above his hand.

He was frozen in place as she settled against him. He hair was tickling him just under his chin, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. All he could focus on was the feeling of her body pressed against his side. He breathed out slowly in an attempt to calm himself and relax, which was only partially successful. He glanced down at her hand resting just above his own and felt a strong desire to take her hand in his. He bit his lip as he looked down at how close their hands were.

He bit his lip and looked away as he gently moved his hand back enough to take Connie’s hand in his. He could feel her eyes on him as she moved her head to look up at him. He couldn’t bring himself to look at her, afraid of her reaction. He knew he wasn’t much of anything compared to so many of the other men and women here. So many of them looked better than him, had more friendly personalities, and were much younger. He felt fingers delicately touch his chin and pull his head around to face her.

He expected to see rejection, even disgust, in her eyes but he only saw her smile beaming up at him. She stretched up to give him a gentle kiss on the cheek before settling back into her original position. Daryl could feel his cheeks turning red and the place she kissed felt like it was on fire, but in a good sort of way. He was happier than he has been in a long while, since RJ was born to be honest.

He wanted to ask her why him? Why would she pick him over everyone else here, but he refused to ruin the moment. Instead, he kept his mouth shut and decided to enjoy the moment before she changed her mind and found someone better. He relaxed against her and closed his eyes, just being present in the moment with Connie by his side. The fact that he’d be leaving after the fair all but forgotten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and Comments are greatly appreciated. <3


	3. The Fair

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, this chapter includes the pikes. Sorry!
> 
> Also, please drop a comment if you’re liking the story so far. I greatly value the responses of my readers. I want to know what you think about the plot so far and what you hope will happen in the future. 
> 
> Feedback on my work is what drives me to write. The more feedback I get, the more excited I am to write the next chapter or oneshot. So if you want to help me write more chapters faster, some comments will go a long way in empowering me to keep writing.

Daryl had just finished loading up the last of the fruit when Tara came over to ask them if they were all set to leave.

“Yeah, this is the last barrel of apples,” he nodded, “I just need to grab my bow and we can go.”

“Riding your bike?” Tara asked him, hands on her hips.

“Of course,” he said confused.

“You don’t want to ride next to Connie in the other wagon or on horses?” she teased.

“Fuck off, Tara,” he warned her, glaring at her.

He really didn’t appreciate her teasing him out in the open like this where anyone could hear her comments. The memory of last night was still fresh in his mind, but he’d managed to convince himself that it was more familiar than romantic. He couldn’t allow himself to hope that it was anything other than the type of affection Carol gave him or he might fall too hard and ruin everything. He refused to allow himself to believe that Connie was interested in him as anything more than a friend or brother figure.

Tara raised her arms in surrender and left him alone. She could tell the subject was a touchy one for him and didn’t want to piss him off before the party. She wanted him to enjoy the afternoon instead of being grumpy the whole time.

Daryl jumped down from the wagon and groaned as his hips protested the drop. It was still sore and all the up and down movements of loading the wagon hadn’t helped him at all. He ignored it and moved on with his task of securing the back of the wagon. He pulled the rope through the holes on either side and secured them tightly with knots. That way the back slab wouldn’t fall during the trip and all their goods fall to the ground.

He made his way back to his room to finish packing his things since he wasn’t planning on coming back to Hilltop afterwards. Dog, who’d been calmly resting on the porch of Barrington, perked up at the sight of Daryl coming towards him. He barked and stood up, trotting over to greet him. Daryl obliged the mutt and gave him some attention. He patted his chest and Dog excitedly jumped up to rest his front paws on Daryl’s chest while Daryl scratched his face and neck.

Daryl led Dog inside the house and to their room. He decided to leave the dog bed there since it would just get ruined in the woods. He threw his two changes of clothes into his bag and the few homemade toiletries that Paul had always made sure were there for him. Normally he wouldn’t have taken it, not caring how he smelled while he was out there, but since he was bringing Lydia he figured he’d better bring some. He wasn’t sure if she’d care or not after being with the whisperers for so long, but he’d rather have it than not. He picked up his crossbow and did one final check that he had everything before leaving the room.

He walked out to his bike that was parked in front of Barrington and started loading up his bike. He’d just finished securing his bow when he heard someone call his name.

“Hey Daryl,” Lydia called out to him as she approached.

“What’s up?” he asked, “You all packed?”

“Yeah, what little I actually have,” she said, swinging her backpack down onto the ground, “Isn’t it going to be hard for you?”

“What’s going to be hard?”

“Leaving all this behind for who knows how long?” she elaborated, gesturing at the surrounding community.

Daryl shrugged, “Nah, this is just a place.”

His gaze caught on Connie who was getting into the wagon with her sister and he couldn’t help but let his eyes linger on her.

“The people though,” he continued, “yeah; that’s the hard part.”

Lydia nodded in understanding having never seen one place as home before since she’d been so young when the dead started walking.

“What about you?” Daryl asked her, “Was it hard to leave your group behind to be with us?”

“Yeah,” she admitted, “No matter how mean my mom was to me, I still love her. You know.”

“Yeah, I do.”

Daryl finished packing everything onto his bike and mounted it.

“You best head over to the wagon before all the good seats are gone,” he said, “Looks like everyone’s just about ready to head out.”

She bid him goodbye and left to join the others, her backpack hanging from one shoulder. They had a lot in common with each other because of their parents. It wasn’t a great connection, but it was a connection nonetheless.

Daryl waited patiently for everyone who was going to load up on the wagon or mount their horses before starting up his bike. Dog barked excitedly beside him as he rode forward. He stopped next to Tara who was driving the wagon full of goods.

“We all good?” he asked over the roar of his engine.

“Yep,” she replied giving him a thumbs up, “Lead the way, ghost rider.”

He rolled his eyes at her antics before revving his engine and pulling forward, Dog running out in front of him.

* * *

The fair was going well as far as Daryl was concerned. Michonne and others from Alexandria had come despite her adamantly refusing to come just 48 hours ago. When he’d asked her about it, she explained that it was Judith calling her out that got her to come. Daryl chuckled hearing the story, knowing first hand how insightful the young Grimes was. She’d called him out on his bullshit about staying away more than once.

Carol had smiled brightly when she’d seen him. He’d wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off the ground, as per usual. She’d been all too eager to tell him how the kingdom and her marriage to Ezekiel was going. She asked about Henry who’d disappeared off with Lydia as soon as he’d hugged his mom hello. He told her about the night he’d spent in a jail cell and about him sneaking off to get Lydia. Carol wasn’t super pleased with her son’s actions, but was comforted by knowing he was in good hands with Daryl.

“I won’t be returning with Henry to Hilltop,” Daryl admitted.

Carol looked at him, confused, “Why not?”

“Lydia and I are going to disappear for a little while, just until the heat dies down,” he explained, “We’ll be back in a couple of months.”

“Daryl, you can’t leave now,” she tried to reason with him, “Winter is almost here.”

“I know, I’m hoping the winter weather will drive them away and help them forget about her. She said they’re not supposed to go back for the members they lose along the way. Maybe the added distance will help Alpha get used to the idea that her daughter doesn’t want to live that way anymore.”

“It’ll be dangerous,” Carol reminded him.

“I know.”

“And cold.”

“Yep.”

“And I’ll miss you,” she said smiling sweetly.

“It’s not working,” he told her, crossing his arms.

“I figured it wouldn’t, but you can’t blame me for trying.”

They stood there on the balcony of the main hall building looking out over the fair, saying nothing. They listened to the carefree voices and laughter below them.

“Just promise me you’ll be careful,” Carol turned back to him, “I don’t think I’d survive losing you.

“Of course,” he smiled at her, “I’ll be as careful as I can be.”

She nodded and kissed his forehead before leaving to rejoin the fair.

* * *

Daryl felt like he was walking in circles. He’d been searching for Tara for over an hour now, but couldn’t seem to find her anywhere. He needed to talk to her about a deal Ezekiel had proposed for the trade of food and raw materials for winter clothing.

“Daryl!” came a yell from behind him.

He turned and noticed that it was Lydia running at him. She appeared shaken and scared. He was instantly on high alert as he walked towards her.

“What is it?” he asked as she came to a stop in front of him.

“It was my mom...” she panted.

“What?!?” he demanded, needing more information now.

“She was here, in the community,” she explained, “And now I can’t find Henry.”

Daryl felt his blood run cold at the revelation. There had to be a connection between Alpha showing up here and Henry’s disappearance. That idea triggered a worse thought. What if Alpha had something to do with Tara’s disappearance, too. Two people missing and a sighting of their most elusive enemy to date couldn’t be a coincidence.

“Where did you last see him?” Daryl asked.

“We were in the theater watching the movie and he got up to get us some snacks. He never came back.”

Daryl quickly made his way to the theater, Lydia hot on his heels. He’d hoped to find some clue as to where he went, but with all the people trampling the ground, it was impossible to pick out any signs of a struggle. Daryl told Lydia to go find Ezekiel so that he could lock the place down. Nobody could leave the Kingdom until Henry and Tara were found.

Daryl ran off in search of Carol, dreading telling her that her son was missing. She’d lost so many kids already that he wasn’t sure his best friend could survive losing another one. He rounded the corner and was instead greeted by Alpha herself. He skidded to a halt in front of her, his emotions torn between anger, shock, and worry. He almost hadn’t recognized her in her strangely normal disguise, but he would never forget those cold eyes of hers.

“Where’s Henry?” he demanded to know.

Alpha gave him a false smile.

“The boy will get what he deserves for taking my daughter from me,” she said eerily calm.

“He didn’t take her, you drove her away,” Daryl spat.

Alpha practically hissed at him, “These communities will get what’s coming to them. You should fear us.”

Then she lunges at him, knocking him back a few feet. Daryl fought to regain his footing and was successful. He pulled his knives from his belt and held them up in a defensive pose, waiting for Alpha’s next move. She pulled a machete out from under the dress she must’ve stolen and lashed out. 

He easily blocked her strike and swung out with his other blade, nicking her shoulder. Her face was contorted with anger and she snarled at him. She attacked again, this time managing to get a minor shot in on his right leg. Daryl yelled as he felt the blade cut through the side of his thigh. It hurt, but it wasn’t super deep.

The two continued to attack, block and dodge each other until the clashing blades started to draw the attention. Alpha looking more and more pissed as she wasn’t able to subdue him. When people started running over, however, she backed off and ran. Daryl ran after her, weaving through the crowd as best he could. He caught a glimpse of a blonde wig and green dress climbing up one of the Kingdom’s outer walls. When he got there, however, Alpha was gone, her disguise discarded at the bottom of the wall.

He slammed his fist on the wall and climbed back down from the post. He then took off in the direction of the main gate. His bloody leg and quick pace drawing attention fast. He ran into Carol first who’s eyes blew wide at the sight of him.

“I think Alpha has Henry and maybe Tara,” he said panting heavily.

Carol said nothing, instead turning away to get Ezekiel’s attention.

“Alpha has Henry and maybe more of our people,” Carol related to him, “We need to send out a rescue party now.”

The king nodded and called for Jerry to find the best fighters, volunteers only, and have them all meet at the gate with their weapons immediately. The three of them made a beeline for the gate. Daryl grabbed his knife and cut one of his spare shirts into a thick strip to bind his wound. He ignored Carol when she asked him to stay behind.

“I’m the best tracker we’ve got,” he reminded her, “I’m going.”

Soon enough, they were joined by Michonne, Connie, and Rosita. Daryl was surprised to see Connie in the line up, but he couldn’t protest her skill in fighting the dead and tracking the living. She threw him a quick half smile which he returned without really meaning to.

“As far as I could tell, she most likely went East towards where Jesus was killed. That must be her territory or something. As far as we know, she only has Henry, but I couldn’t find Tara. There’s a chance she has more of our people than we even know about,” Daryl exclaimed quickly.

“You know this is a trap, right?” Michonne asked him, shifting uncomfortably.

Daryl looked over at her, “Yeah, but they’ve got Carol’s son. We have to go after them. We’d do the same if she’d taken Judith.”

Michonne nodded, “Then let’s go get him back.”

* * *

Daryl couldn’t breathe as he looked out over the massive herd of walkers beneath him. Connie grabbed his hand as she stood next to him. He could feel her shaking slightly as she squeezed his palm. Out of the corner of his eye, he could still see the shotgun pointed at Connie’s head by Alpha to keep them in line.

“You cross my border again,” Alpha warned them, “and I will send my herd to destroy your pathetic homes. I’ve marked the border to the north, you’ll see it as you leave.”

“What does that mean?” Daryl asked her turning to face her, Connie’s hand still in his.

“You’ll see it as you leave,” she emphasized.

“You tried to kill me back at the Kingdom, why let me go now?”

She grinned, a malicious glint in her eye, “You beat my Beta. Someone who can hold their own against Beta deserves a meaningful death. So, I will allow you to continue living, for now.”

He felt Connie inch closer to him as she spoke, but not like she was scared. It felt more like a protective move as her body was just slightly in front of his in relation to Alpha. Alpha kept the gun trained on them until they’d left the outcropping. She then disappeared back into the surrounding forest.

Daryl told the others what they’d seen and they were all rightly scared. A herd that big could flatten all of their communities without even trying. If Alpha unleashed that herd on them, the communities they’ve worked so hard to build wouldn’t survive. 

“She said she’s marked the border to the north and that we’ll see it as we leave,” he told the others.

“Marked it with what?” Carol demanded, still deeply worried about her son.

“I don’t know,” he admitted, “but I don’t like that we haven’t found Henry yet. He wasn’t with them.”

Carol got a sick feeling in her stomach, something was deeply wrong.

“Maybe she tied him up and left him to mark the border,” Rosita suggested.

“If that’s true, then he won’t be able to defend himself from walkers,” Michonne realized.

“Let’s go,” Daryl said taking off in the direction Alpha had told them to go.

Connie fell in step with him shortly after with the other following closely behind. She was worried about Daryl and the others. She was very new and didn’t have a deep bond with this kid, but he was family to everyone else. She could see blood trickling down from the side of Daryl’s leg and cursed his stubbornness. He should’ve at least got it bandaged before coming out here.

Daryl heard muffled cries for help coming from his right. He glanced over and saw Siddiq tied to a tree. They hadn’t even known that he was missing. His face was covered in blood and he was shaking violently. His eyes were wild with fear as Michonne hurried to free him. The man immediately collapsed into Michonne’s arms, pointing in the direction of the hill.

Daryl felt sick as he rushed up the side of the hill which broke out into a large, clear space. That’s when he saw it, ten large stakes were erected at the top of the hill and on each one was the head of someone they knew. Daryl only vaguely recognized a few of them from his time away from the communities, but others he knew immediately.

Without hesitation, he threw himself in front of Carol.

“No!” he yelled desperately, “Don’t look. Just look at me.”

Carol collapsed into his arms as she cried, her son’s head on a pile behind them. Connie fell to the ground in shock as she took in what she was seeing. She could see Daryl holding Carol up just a few yards away from her as the mother wept for the loss of her child.

Connie rubbed her belly in sympathy, remembering the pain of losing her own son when the turn began. He’d been born with a severe heart problems that needed surgery when he was just a few days old. When the world ended, there were no more doctors to treat her baby and he passed away in her arms just a week after everything ended.

This murder of Carol’s son was much more traumatic as it was so sudden and violent. She’d known her son was going to die without medical care, but Carol’s had been laughing with him just this morning without knowing anything was going to happen. She couldn’t imagine how horrible it must feel to have a child taken from her so violently.

The horrified group stayed there for a long while, mourning the loss of their family members. Connie kept a lookout for walkers and whisperers while the others let themselves feel the extensiveness of their losses. They’d have to come back later to retrieve their heads because they couldn’t bring themselves to carry the bloody heads of their family members in their bare hands.

At Connie’s insistence upon seeing some approaching walkers, the horrified group managed to move past the markers and onto their side of the border. Daryl was practically carrying Carol at this point and Siddiq was walking, but not very well. Connie felt like it was her job to keep the group safe until they reached the Kingdom since none of them were in a state to fight or pay attention to much of anything.

The buzz of the Kingdom fell silent as they watched the group stumble back through the gates with only Siddiq in toe. They’d figured out who all was missing and they’d expected them to return with everyone, but they didn’t.

“Where are the others?” someone in the crowd called out.

Daryl looked out over the crowd, “They’re dead.”

Cries of anguish echoed through the communities as people realized their friends and family members were dead.

“We’ll kill them all for this!” one person declared.

“No!” Michonne yelled, “We cannot fight this enemy. They have a herd of hundreds of thousands of walkers at their disposal. If they send that herd towards the Kingdom or Hilltop, they will be destroyed. Nobody goes after them. Am I understood?”

The crowd was silent again as they listened to Michonne’s words.

“Good,” she spoke with an air of finality and left to take Siddiq to the infirmary.

Daryl gave Carol over to Ezekiel so that they could mourn the loss of their son together. Daryl stumbles over to a secluded picnic table behind one of the buildings and collapsed down onto the seat. He hung his head in shame. He’d had Alpha right there in front of him and he’d failed to kill her. He’d failed to track down Henry and the others without being caught. He’d failed to save his best friend’s child, again.

He heard someone come sit beside him and he glanced up to see that it was Connie. Her eyes were sad as she reached out to him. Her fingers caressed his cheek as a few tears slipped from his eyes. Not knowing what to say, she simply pulled him into a hug. He didn’t respond at first, but he eventually let himself relax and cry into her shoulder. It had been a long time since he’d cried in front of people, but with Connie he didn’t feel like he had to hide. He felt at home with her and right now, he needed a little bit of home to ground him.


	4. Finding Each Other

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connie tells Daryl about her late son.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope y'all enjoy this chapter!
> 
> And if you do, don't be afraid to let me know in the comments section down below!  
(I feel like I sound like the outro of every YouTube video ever.)

Connie hadn’t seen much of Daryl during the fair. As soon as they’d arrived he disappeared off with Carol to talk about how her son and husband were doing. She’d seen them up on the balcony talking to each other, but hadn’t been able to make out anything that they were saying. She was slightly disappointed that he hadn’t sought her out afterwards, but she could understand it. There were a lot of people here who he’s known longer than her. It’s understandable that his close family members took precedence over her.

She’d still had a lot of fun though with her sister dragging her all over the place wanting to see everything. They hadn’t been to something like this since before the turn. They used to go to farmer’s markets all the time before the end of the world to get local, fresh produce. The best part of this event was that everything was free to be shared. Kelly couldn’t get enough of the freshly baked breads, pies, and cookies that had been made for the celebration.

The night of fun, however, had quickly descended into panic and tragedy as many of their own were kidnapped and murdered by the skins. Everyone present was shaken to their core and terrified. She wasn’t here when the last war had broken out, but she’d already been told plenty of horror stories about the lives that were lost in their fight for freedom. She’d been in fights, but none as prolonged and massive as the war against the saviors.

She saw Daryl walk off alone as Ezekiel came to take a shell shocked Carol inside. He looked broken with his head hung low and his crossbow dangling limply at his side. There was a fatigue there that she’d only ever glimpsed before. It told her he was tired of the fighting, of the losses, of the wars. She couldn’t let him be alone in this moment. She caught up to him sitting on a picnic bench far away from the center of the Kingdom.

She was scared as she sat down that he’d reject her presence, tell her to go away. She knew he might want to be alone right now, but she honestly believed he shouldn’t be. She knows how close he is with Carol, they were siblings in every way except blood, which means, in a way, he just lost his nephew. His head was hung low between his shoulder blades, his arms resting on the tops of his thighs.

He didn’t even acknowledge her presence until she sat down on the bench next to him. He glanced up at her and she could see the tears running down his face. This man who was normally so stoic was breaking and her heart went out to him. She didn’t know what to say to make it better and even if she did, it would take her too long to write it all down. Instead, she reached her hand out to caress the side of his face. She felt him lean into her hand as more tears slipped down his face.

Taking this as a sign that he was okay with her comforting him, she pulled him into a tight hug. He tensed at first, but quickly relaxed and returned her embrace. She could feel her shirt becoming wet as he let himself cry into her shoulder. She took one of her hands and ran it through his hair, just holding him and allowing him to have this moment. She knew how important it was to let yourself feel the loss of someone you loved and Daryl had just lost multiple people in some of the most gruesome deaths she’s ever seen.

She felt him start to pull away from her and she could see that he’d stopped crying. His eyes were red and there were multiple tear tracks running across his face. She brought her hands away from his shoulders and used her thumbs to wipe under his eyes. His hands came up and covered hers, pulling them away from his face and holding them out between them. He looked down at them and rubbed his thumbs over the backs of her hands. He looked back up at her with a look she’d never seen before splayed across his face.

_ “Thank you  _ for being here, _ ” _ he half signed, dropping one of her hands.

She smiled at his use of sign language, thinking of her even when his world had just been shattered.

_ “Always,” _ she signed back without thinking.

He cocked his head and furrowed eyebrows trying to remember what that meant. She didn’t know how to tell him she hadn’t taught him that one yet, so she just pulled out her notebook.

_ “Sorry, haven’t taught you that one yet,” _ she apologized,  _ “I said, always.” _

_ “How are you?” _ he signed.

_ “It was horrific, but not as emotionally taxing,” _ she wrote,  _ “I didn’t know then as well as you did.” _

He nodded in understanding, looking behind her at the setting sun for a moment.

“I didn’t know all of them. I really just knew Enid, Tara, and Henry. Some of the others I’d met, but I didn’t know all of them,” he began talking, making sure to speak clearly so that she could read his lips.

“I’ve known Tara the longest. We met on opposite sides of a fight. She was with another group that attacked our community. They had a fucking tank and everything; they leveled the place. But she hadn’t known who the guy she was following was really like. She thought they weren’t actually going to attack us. She joined us after and became a good friend.

Met Enid at Alexandria when we first showed up. She’d only been there a couple weeks herself when we arrived. Carl, a young boy in our group, was immediately infatuated with her. He chased her all over the place. Hell, he even asked me to find him some condoms before...”

Daryl trailed off gazing behind her, but not really looking. His eyes were far away, like he was imagining all those people he’d lost were up there in the stars looking down at them.

_ “Losing the people we love is very hard, _ ” she wrote,  _ “I can empathize with you about that.” _

“Who’ve you lost?” he said without thinking.

His eyes blew wide and he immediately tried to backtrack.

“Sorry! You don’t have to answer that,” he gulped, scared he’d ruined the moment.

_ “It’s fine,” _ she signed.

She rapped her pencil on her notebook debating about whether or not she was ready to tell him about her son or not. It’s not that she doesn’t trust him, it’s that she’s not sure if she’s ready to talk about it. Also, talking about it like this would take a while, but she figured they had time.

Making up her mind, she took a deep breath and began to write. She could feel Daryl reading over her shoulder as she wrote out her story. Once she started she couldn’t stop and it all just poured out.

_ “I had a baby who died in the back in the beginning of all this. He had a severe heart condition that needed constant medical care. When everything went down, there weren’t any doctors left to help him and he died a week later.” _

She felt an arm wrap around her waist and a hand rubbing her side to comfort her.

_ “I knew the second I went to the hospital and found it trashed that my son was going to die. I knew he wouldn’t survive without proper medical attention. But I kept giving him his meds anyway because I wanted to spend as much time with him as possible. Kelly was there when he died and helped me bury him.” _

Her hands were shaking, making it too hard to write anymore. Daryl noticed and took the pen out of her hand and placed it on the table. He pulled her against him, letting her recover from telling him her story. Once she stopped shaking, she turned to look up at him. His face ended up being very close to hers when she did that, but he didn’t move away.

She pushed herself up towards him, bringing their faces even closer together so that she could feel his breath on her lips. She wasn’t even sure if he liked her, but the way he was looking at her was telling a different story. His eyes were flicking between her mouth and her eyes as if unsure. They’d never talked about where their relationship was going, but right now it seemed pretty clear to her what he wanted and she wanted it too.

Finally, he started to move down to meet her and she let her eyes fall closed. She felt a small brush of his lips against hers, but he backed off. Thinking he might’ve lost his nerve, she chased after him with her mouth to show him she wanted him to kiss her.

Daryl noticed her movements and realized that maybe his attraction wasn’t as one sided as he’d always believed it would be. She’d reacted positively to him almost kissing her just then and he decided to go for it. It’s been over a decade since he’d last kissed anyone and that had only been a drunken one night stand with some guy he could barely even remember. He breathed deeply and cleared his head of all his wandering thoughts as he looked down at the woman in his arms.

He move the arm around her waist to caress her entire back and he leaned back in. This time, instead of pulling away, he allowed himself to kiss her fully on the mouth. He felt her respond immediately to him, her lips moving against his. Her arms wrapped around his neck, holding onto him as they kissed. He kissed her until his lungs felt ready to explode. He reluctantly pulled away from her to get some much needed air.

She opened her eyes to look up at him and noticed how scared he looked. His expression read like someone who was expecting her to reject him at any moment. She brought her hands down to caress both sides of his face and pulled him back in again. His other hand came up behind her so that he was effectively hugging her to him. One of her hands slid up into his hair, running her fingers through his hair.

When they pulled apart for the second time, they didn’t go back in for another kiss. Instead, Connie leaned forward to rest her head against his chest and his head dropped down to rest on her shoulder. In both their chests, they felt a strange mix of deep sadness and joy as they embraced. The air felt electric around them as they allowed themselves to find each other in the midst of tragedy.


	5. Aftermath

Connie woke up to the sun peaking through the window blinds of a room she didn’t recognize. She was confused at first until she remembers everyone had spent the night at the Kingdom, too tired to go home after the events at Alpha’s border. Then she remembered what had happened between her and Daryl last night and she smiled. She could feel the butterflies taking flight in her stomach and she stretched. She wasn’t sure if she was allowed to feel as happy as she does with what had just happened, but she couldn’t help it.

She’d wanted to kiss Daryl for a long time and last night her dream had come true. It was like finding a rock in a storm for both of them, more so for Daryl. He’d been floundering so badly until she’d arrived and pulled him back. She sat up, a smile still plastered on her face, and got dressed. She grabbed her knife and strapped it to her side before making her way downstairs to the dining hall.

The atmosphere of the hall was somber and it was much more empty than it was at dinner last night. Ezekiel wasn’t laughing at full volume, Jerry wasn’t telling jokes, and nobody was even really talking above a whisper, if at all. She caught sight of Daryl sitting across the way with Carol leaning against him as he tried to coax her to eat something. The normal vibrant woman was pale and weak as she leaned on him like she couldn’t even support herself.

She figured that no matter how much she wanted to talk to him again after last night, he needed to be alone with Carol right now. Instead, Connie made her way over to her sister Kelly who was sitting with the rest of her crew. They were all talking in sign language as to not disturb the mourning people around them. They were all shocked, but none of them were feeling the same emotional impact as the others.

Connie went over to the kitchen window and got a plate from the unusually silent line of cooks. The women looked broken and many had red eyes from crying. She nodded as a thank you and left them alone. Kelly saw her approaching their table and waved at her. The other turned their heads to see who was coming over. Magna moved over to make room for her to sit next to her. Kelly’s eyebrows furrowed as Connie sat down, noticing the slight happy glow to her expression.

_ “What’s got you so happy?” _ Kelly asked.

Connie blushed and just waved her sister off.

_ “We can all see it,” _ Magna backed Kelly up, _ “What’s going on?” _

Connie sighed knowing that she wasn’t going to get out of it.

_ “Daryl kissed me last night,” _ she revealed.

Kelly gasped involuntarily, her eyes blowing wide. The others’ reactions were very similar as they all couldn’t really believe what she’d said.

_ “What?!?” _ Luke signed staring at her like she’d grown a new head.

Connie covered her mouth so that she wouldn’t laugh out loud knowing that it would be inappropriate with the way things were right now.

_ “I noticed how much seeing his friends like that had hurt him, so I went after him when we got back. I did my best to pull him back from the edge and things escalated,” _ she explained shrugging, trying to play it off.

She was really glad nobody around them could really understand sign language meaning this conversation was totally confidential. Kelly was just staring at her, mouth hanging open.

_ “Things escalated!?!” _ Kelly signed in disbelief, _ “How do things go from him having a breakdown to you two kissing?” _

Connie shrugged, _ “He cried on my shoulder over the people he lost and I told him about Dre. It just kind of happened.” _

_ “You told him about losing your son?” _ Yumiko asked, the shock clear in her hands.

Connie nodded as she ate some of the corn growing cold on her plate.

_ “You must really trust this guy if you told him about Dre,” _ Magna observed.

_ “Yeah, it took you months to tell us about him,” _ Luke agreed.

_ “He’s a good man,” _ she defended herself, _ “I do trust him and I like him too.” _

Kelly snorted across the table, _ “I would hope that you like him. You fucking kissed the man.” _

Connie pursed her lips to keep from smiling and kicked her sister gently under the table.

_ “Hey!” _ Kelly signed throwing a false glare back at her.

_ “What made you trust him so fast?” _ Magna wanted to know.

_ “I started trusting him during our time alone together when we went to get Henry,” _ she explained, _ “He was so worried about protecting us that he went solo up against Alpha’s right hand. Lydia called him Beta and said he was the best Alpha had.” _

_ “And he won?” _ Luke asked.

Connie nodded, _ “But he was injured. Beta apparently slammed him up against the wall a few times.” _

Luke glanced over at Daryl before looking back at Connie, _ “Someone slammed _ ** _him_ ** _ up against a wall?” _

_ “Yeah, he hurt his shoulder and hip in the fight,” _ she revealed, _ “I helped massage his shoulder afterwards at Alexandria.” _

Kelly raised her eyebrows in a suggestive manner earning her another soft kick from Connie.

_ “Beta must’ve been huge to be able to do that,” _ Yumiko inferred glancing over at Daryl.

_ “Daryl told me he pushed him down an elevator shaft,” _ Connie signed.

Magna nodded, impressed by Daryl’s resourcefulness, _ “Whatever works.” _

* * *

Connie finished securing the back of the wagon as she prepared to leave with the rest of Hilltop. The other communities already knew what had happened here thanks to a few brave people who’d rode out early this morning to deliver the news. Others went out to get the heads off the pikes and place them in boxes to be buried. The heads of those who lived at Hilltop were placed in the front of the wagon and covered with a blanket.

The atmosphere was still very heavy as all the communities prepared to travel home and bury their dead friends. Daryl was still with Carol who was sitting on the ground next to Henry grave with Dog’s head in her lap. He’d been buried this morning as soon as his casket was ready. Connie had been there to support Carol and Daryl, but she’d hung back wanting to give them space. She understood how deep their bond was, but she didn’t feel jealous because she knew Daryl didn’t see Carol the same way he saw her.

Connie saw one of the Hilltop residents go over to him and tell him something. She figured by the way he glanced over at the wagon that she’d told him they were ready to go. Daryl nodded and responded. The woman nodded and walked back over to the wagon, climbing into the driver’s seat. The rest of the Hilltop residents including her group were making their way into the other wagon. Daryl helped Carol stand and he hugged her one last time before handing her over to Jerry who pulled her against him.

Daryl walked over to his bike and kicked it on. Dog ran out in front of him as always as Connie got into the wagon. Daryl nodded to the wagon drivers and they all left the Kingdom behind.

* * *

Daryl had wanted to stay, but he knew he was going to be needed at Hilltop with both Tara and Jesus now dead. Hilltop was without a leader and he had a responsibility to ensure that it didn’t fall apart. Part of him also didn’t want to let Connie go back without him, especially after what had happened between them last night. He’d felt a peace when he woke up that he hadn’t for a long time. It was, of course, quickly ruined when he’d found Carol asleep on the floor outside his room.

She'd apparently gotten into a fight with Ezekiel about how to deal with the whisperers and ended up outside his room. She explained that she didn’t want to wake him when he asked her why she hadn’t come in. Daryl had taken her downstairs to the dining hall and spent an hour trying to get her to eat without success.

He’d noticed Connie come downstairs and he’d wanted to go over to her, but Carol needed him more. He noticed that during the course of breakfast a few of Connie’s group members looking over at him and he guessed that she’d told them about their kiss. He could easily read the surprise on their faces as she spoke to them he wondered what else she’d told them about him. He hadn’t told Carol, not thinking it was the appropriate time to tell her about how well his love life was going.

Later, he’d caught sight of Connie as Henry’s funeral. He was pleasantly surprised at her presence since she hadn’t known Henry too well. It was also possible she was there because Henry had grown on her in the short time she’d known him. Either way he was thankful for her being there. The memory of their kiss helped him stay positive throughout the day as he kept trying to get Carol to eat or even acknowledge the outside world. He was afraid of losing her again and he was at a loss for how to help her.

When they arrived back home, the rest of Hilltop was already waiting for them. They'd dug the graves in advance and planned the funerals to honor each person who’d been killed. The ceremony wasn’t super long, but it was emotionally taxing on everyone involved. Daryl noticed how people were instinctively turning to him to answer questions and make decisions just like he’d assumed they would. It was difficult to balance all of it when he wasn’t used to being in the spotlight, but he did his best to manage all of their concerns and questions.

Some of the residents wanted to ride out and strike at the skins now, but Daryl warned them off. He told them about the thousands of Walkers that he’d seen in her horde and that stopped most of them from asking about it. Others started verbally attacking Lydia as an outlet for their grief and anger which Daryl quickly shut down with Connie’s help. Daryl noticed Connie stepping in to defend Lydia more than once. She even punched a man who’s tried to physically harm Lydia, knocking him down to the ground. Nobody had tried to do that since, much to Daryl’s relief.

It was a long day of dealing with Hilltop’s people in the aftermath of such a terrifying tragedy. After the last person left Maggie’s office, he collapsed onto the couch, letting his head fall against the back of the couch. He bit back a groan when he heard the door open again. He looked up to see who’d come in and breathed out a sigh of relief when he saw that it was Connie. She looked concerned as she walked over to join him on the couch, locking the door behind her.

_ “How are you?” _ she signed before placing a hand on his face.

_ “Tired,” _ he replied, bringing a hand up to cover hers.

She nodded and pulled out her notebook. He let her hand go so that she could write down what she wanted to say.

“I figured you might be,” it read.

Daryl was thankful for her ability to read how he was feeling. Communicating how he was feeling was always a weakness of his. She looked up at him and placed the notebook down on the coffee table beside them. She brought one her hands up to wrap around his neck, pulling him down to her. He leaned into it and let his eyes slip closed as their lips met. His arms came to wrap around her back and pulled her closer to him.

He felt her start to push him back against the couch and suddenly, she surged up and placed one of her legs across him, effectively straddling him. She was now over him as they kissed and he couldn’t complain. He was totally fine with her being in charge of this part of their relationship. He made sure to keep his hands over her waistline out of respect wanting her to show him what she wanted. Wherever she led him, he was ready to follow. 

She continued to kiss him, her arms wrapped around his neck and her legs bent on either side of him. She could feel his arms resting against against the middle of her back and she wanted him to move lower. Realizing that he was waiting for her to say it’s okay made her smile against his lips. She appreciated that he wanted her to be in charge of their relationship as most of the men she’d been with hand taken control immediately, often even when she’d protested it.

She took one of her hands away from his neck and used it to push his hands lower. Now that she’d showed him what she wanted, he was more bold with his touches with one hand coming to rest on the small of her back and the other sliding down to the top of her butt. She pulled away from kissing him and went lower to kiss his neck, rocking her hips against him. She could feel the vibrations of his moans under her lips making her happy that she was dragging such a reaction from him. She brought her hand back up from where it had been on his arm and placed it just under his Adam's apple to better feel his voice.

He dropped his hands down even further to rest on her ass, pulling her body closer to him as she continued her ministrations. She loved feeling the vibration of his voice under her fingertips and his growing erection between her thighs. She could feel herself becoming aroused for the first time since before the turn. She was certain that she was making noise as well as she rolled her hips against him.

She felt his arms leave their place on her ass and he pushed her up so that she was looking at his face. She was confused as to why he’d stopped her but she smiled when she read his lips.

_ “Want to go back to my room?” _ he asked her, his nervousness clear in his face.

She nodded before kissing him passionately on the mouth. She was excited to explore this further in the privacy of his room. She got up off him and pretended not to notice as he adjusted his pants. She prayed that they wouldn’t run into anyone on the way to his room. She especially didn’t want to run into Kelly because her sister would never stop teasing her about it. He took her hand and led her from the office closing the door behind them.

He made sure to lock the door to his room so that hopefully nobody would disturb them. He knew he was the new leader of Hilltop, but right now all he wanted was to be alone with Connie. This was something he’d never allowed himself to have before or after the turn until now and he wanted to enjoy it as best he could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are greatly appreciated! <3  
Leave one and make my day. :D


	6. Coming Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daryl and Connie enjoy their first time together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't intend to make the sex scene as detailed or long as I did, so I've decided to add another chapter instead of dragging this one on past it's natural ending point.
> 
> I hope that you all enjoy. :D

Connie only waited long enough for her and Daryl to remove their muddy shoes at the door before she was back on him. She pulled him back against her and kissed him, his hands coming up hold her against him. She ran her hands up his chest into his hair, scratching her nails gently against his scalp. She left her lips vibrate as he moaned against her mouth at the feeling. She felt his tongue run across her bottom lip, asking for permission to push this further. She happily obliged his request, parting her lips to let his tongue into her mouth. His tongue pushed past her lips and ran across hers.

They had a short battle for dominance as their tongues curled around each other, but Daryl quickly surrendered to her, letting her take control. He was so ready and willing to let her take control of their relationship and it honestly surprised her. He gave off this very rough vibe and she’d assumed he’d continue that in the bedroom, but she was wrong. He was very concerned about what she wanted, not what he wanted. It was refreshing and extremely attractive. She could feel the heat pooling between her legs as they continued to kiss.

She badly wanted to just grab Daryl and tackle him onto the bed, but she was acutely aware that they hadn’t showered since last night. They’d been moving and sweating all day in the hot sun as they buried their fallen friends and family members. She’d seen the private bathroom when she first walked in and she wondered if Daryl would be down with showering together. She moaned against his lips when she felt her pussy tighten at the idea of Daryl soaking wet and naked in front of her.

She pulled away from him, gasping for air. The way he was looking at her made her knees weak. His face was a mix of joy and disbelief as he tried to process the idea that she wanted him. She placed a hand on his cheek as she smiled up at him. He brought one of his own hands up and cupped back back of her hand, kissing the middle of her palm. It was such a sweet move and it only made her love him more. She turned her hand around and threaded their fingers together. Now holding onto him hand, she slowly began backing up towards the private bathroom.

His face flickers from worried to confused to understanding within a few minutes. It made her sad to think that he was so ready to believe that she’d changed her mind and she was thankful he’d realized what she wanted quickly after. She hadn’t wanted to break the tension between them by having to pause to write out the question. With his dedication to learning her language, she couldn’t wait for the day that they’d be able to communicate without the notebook.

She pulled him into the bathroom and gestured to the shower, throwing him a questioning look. He nodded and moved forward to kiss her again, their still clasped hands hanging down by their sides. She brought her other hand up to rub against the buttons of his shirt, silently asking him if she could take it off. He swallowed nervously, but nodded and dropped her hand. She wasted little time in unbuttoning his shirt and pushing it off his shoulders onto the floor. 

He kept his head down as her hands explored the newly uncovered flesh. Her fingers danced across his abs and then ran up over his nipples causing him to shiver lightly. She smirked at his sensitivity, but continued upward to his face turning up to look at her. She’d noticed the many scars littered across his torso, but she’d ignored him. She didn’t care about the scars, they only served to prove how much this man in front of her hand survived to be here with her right now.

His eyes told her how little he thought of himself, his eyes scared as he looked back at her. He was ready for her to reject him again and it broke her heart. She pushed up onto her tiptoes and kissed him, reassuring him that she still wanted him. He breathed out a sigh of relief, lightly rushing across her face as she kissed him. She felt his arms wrap around her waist and his fingers dip beneath the hem of her shirt. She smiled into the kiss before pulling back. She crossed her arms over her torso and pulled her black tank top over her head, letting it fall somewhere on the floor behind her.

She saw Daryl’s breath catch in his throat as he took the sight of her in. She noticed the tent in his pants growing, but didn’t call attention to it just yet. She didn’t want to push forward too quickly, wanting to savor this moment together. This was going to be their first time together and she wanted it to be special, no matter how unplanned it all was. They still hadn’t talked about where this was going, but she knew she didn’t want it to be a one time thing. And judging by the way Daryl looked at her, touched her, respected her, he didn’t want this to be a one night stand either.

She grabbed his arm, which was still around her waist, and pushed it up towards her bra. She wanted him to take it off of her like how she’d taken off his shirt. She could feel the nerves in his hands as he realized what she wanted him to do, his eyes dropping down to her bra. She felt him fiddle with the clasp on her bra, but she didn’t want to laugh or giggle because she could tell her was already scared of doing something wrong. She felt him slow down and run his fingers over the clasp, almost like was analyzing how it was put together. Next thing she knew, the clasp was opened and he pulled the bra off her.

His hands ran up her stomach to brush over her breasts. His thumbs flicked over her nipples and she shivered against his hands. His eyes moved back up to her face and he leaned in and kissed her. His hands cupped her breasts as they kissed and her fingers danced back across his abs, slowly inching lower. He jumped slightly when he felt her fingers on the button of his jeans, but he didn’t break their kiss. She pulled away and looked into his eyes, wanting to be sure that he was comfortable with this. He smiled at her and nodded, his hands running down from her breasts to the top of her pants.

She bit her lip and popped the button on his jeans, her eyes catching on the obvious bulge in his jeans. She pulled the zipper down the track, relieving what she was sure was some uncomfortable pressure on his hardening cock. She boldly rubbed her fingers across the bulge in his jeans while watching his face. She smiled at his gasp when she did that, his eyelids flickering open and closed. She hooked her fingers in his belt loops, but paused when she felt him open the button on her jeans and pull the zipper down. His hands skirted around the top of her jeans around to the sides, his thumbs tucked into the sides of her jeans.

She bit her lip again and pushed his jeans down his thighs, letting him finish stepping out of them. All that was left on him was his black underwear and his socks. She felt him start to push her jeans down and happily stepped out of them, kicking them behind her. She could see his eyes wandering all over her body and she loved it. Her eyes were tracking all over Daryl’s body, too. Deciding to push this just slightly faster because she wanted him to touch her more, she bit her lips and dropped her panties to the floor.

She saw his eyes widen in surprise at her move, but all he did was run his hands down her sides and to her ass. He stepped closer to her so that their chests were almost touching. He felt her fingers dip beneath the hem of his underwear, pushing them down his legs far enough for them to fall the rest of the way down. His hard cock popped out and stood proudly between their bodies. Connie looked down between them at his cock and bit her lip smiling. She was pleased with what she saw since she didn’t like overly big cocks all that much, they hurt her too much. Daryl’s cock was the perfect size and thickness for her personal tastes and she couldn’t wait to have him in her at some point tonight.

She backed away from him towards the shower and he watched her go. Deciding to tease him a bit as she went to turn on the shower, she bent over with her legs parted ever so slightly. She wished she could’ve heard the sound that she was sure Daryl made when she did that, but she was sure she’d be able to enjoy his expression in a minute. She pulled the plug on the faucet to make the water come out of the shower head and turned around. She smirked when she noticed that Daryl’s gaze was firmly fixed on her lower half, his bottom lip caught between his teeth. She reached behind her to test the temperature and once she was pleased with it, she removed her socks and stepped into the shower.

She curled her finger at him, beckoning him to join her in the shower. She saw him gulp as the water started pouring over her body, tiny streams of water running down between her breasts and thighs. He almost stumbled removing his socks in his rush to join her, causing her to giggle lightly as she got her hair thoroughly wet.. He blushed furiously, but he didn’t run away. Instead he stepped into the shower beside her, pulling the glass door closed behind him. He hesitated only for a second before stepping forward and pulling her into his arms.

He kissed her as he joined her under the water spray. She ran her fingers through his hair and did her best to not just grab his cock that she felt poking against her leg. Part of her really just wanted to go there, but more of her wanted to drag this night out. It was becoming harder and harder to stick to her original plan of taking it slow now that she had Daryl naked in front of her. She pushed him away a bit so that she could grab the shampoo from the shower rack. She poured a little of it in her hands and motioned for Daryl to turn around. He listened to her and turned his back to her, letting his head fall back a bit. He groaned as he felt her soapy hands thread through his hair, scratching wonderfully at his scalp. She made sure to cover his hair in the soap before letting him wash it all out.

He grabbed the bottle from her, but kind of stared at the bottle at a loss. She snorted realizing he didn’t know how much to use. She took the bottle back and squeezed a healthy amount into his open hands. He kissed her briefly before asking her to turn around. She moaned as he massaged her scalp with his fingers and worked the soap into the length of her hair. When he was finished, he helped her wash it out too. They repeated the process with conditioner, exchanging kisses as they worked.

Daryl grabbed the body wash before Connie and poured some on a wash cloth hanging on hook on the wall. He bit his lip as he stepped forward with the cloth and started washing her body gently. He listened to the little breathy moans she made as he washed her, pausing to flick his thumbs over her nipples a few times. When he got to the part where if he continued he’d be reaching between her legs, he hesitated. She could tell that he was waiting for her permission despite all they’d done so far. She leaned back against the wall and lifted one of her legs up and set it on the side of the shower. The movement opened herself up to Daryl, an open invitation for him to touch her.

He gulped as he watched her blatant offer for him to touch her there and he felt his member pulse with want. He poured a little soap on his fingers and placed his fingers just above the small patch of pubic hair she had there. He massaged the soap into the hair there before pushing his hand lower. He bit his lip as he felt her slit part around his fingers as he pushed lower, spreading the soap over her most intimate area. He pushed his hand all the way to the back before removing his hand.

He let her wash off under the spray of the water. She closed her eyes as she washed the soap off her body and he took the opportunity to stroke his cock a few times just to relieve a bit of the tension coiling up inside him. He dropped his hand as soon as her eyes opened again, but her smirk told him that she’d seen what he was doing.

She walked over to him and took the rag from him, pouring fresh soap onto it. It would be better if they had a different one, but Daryl only had the one in his shower. She rubbed it across his chest, savoring the feeling of his chest against her hand. She finished washing him the same way he’d done her until it was time to wash his cock. She poured a little more soap onto her hand kissed him. His hands came up to cup her face, their lips moving in tandem.

He gasped against her lips when he felt her hand on his cock. She moved her hand confidently up and down his shaft, the sound of the soap absolutely sinful as she jacked him. He broke the kiss and dropped his head down onto her shoulder, groaning against her neck. He felt his hips pushing forward into her hand and he longed to be inside her, if she let him. He pushed her hand away and stepped under the spray, quickly washing the soap off him.

He went to turn off the water, but he was stopped when Connie grabbed his hand. Confused, he looked back over at her and was sure his heart skipped a beat when he saw her drop to her knees in front of him. He leaned back against the wall of the shower as he looked down at the beautiful woman in front of him. He had never expected her to do this and hadn’t planned on asking her to.

He gasped when he felt her grab his cock and jerk him a few times as she positioned herself under him. Her first touch of tongue against his hard cock made his breath catch in his throat. She licked his cock from root to tip and savored the feeling of him shivering in pleasure above her. She flicked her tongue against the sensitive area just below the head of his cock. She felt one of his hands thread into her wet hair, not controlling her, just holding onto her as she worked him.

She flicked her tongue against the head of his cock and looked up at him through her lashes to see him watching her. She grinned up at him and then took the head of his cock into mouth and sucked, still looking up at him. He let out a choked yelped when her hot mouth suddenly enveloped the head of his cock. He let his head fall back against the tile wall as she continued to take more of him into her mouth, using her hand to jerk what she couldn’t take in. She wished she could just deep throat him right out of the gate like she used to be able to before the turn, but she was way out of practice in this area having not been with anyone since before the birth of her son.

She kept sucking him down, pulling back a few times to flick her tongue against the head. She felt his fingers tighten in her and his leg muscles tense under her fingers and she knew he was about to cum. She took as much of him into her mouth as she could and swallowed hard around him. His legs shook under her hands as he came in her mouth, his fingers holding onto her hair for dear life. She swallowed it down with little issue and continued to suck until she felt him start to urge her off.

She stood up and giggled at the blissed out look on his face which caused him to turn beat read. He wrapped his arms around her waist and spun them around so that she was pressed up against the wall now. Wrapping her arms around his neck and trusting him to hold her, she lifted her right leg off the ground and wrapped it around his waist. She moaned loudly when the motion resulted in Daryl’s cock landing directly against her pussy. She felt his cock twitch in interest against her despite him having cum only a few seconds ago.

He pulled away from the kiss and dropped to his knees, just like she had earlier. He lifted one of her legs and rested the back of her knee on his shoulder. He leaned forward and flicked his tongue against her clit. He listened to her moan above him as he continued his ministrations on her most intimate area. His tongue delved deeper into her pussy as he remembered how to bring the most pleasure to women from his past, before the turn. He hadn’t been with a woman for an extremely long time, but he was determined to bring her all the pleasure she deserved. She grabbed his hair as he moved his mouth against her, his tongue flicking against her clit in between him licking down her slit.

She wanted him in her, but she didn’t want their first time to be in the shower. She pushed his head away with some difficulty and reached over to turn off the water as he dropped her leg back onto the floor. He opened the glass door and grabbed a towel to dry them both off a bit knowing that wet sheets wouldn’t be super fun. She dried her body off first before handing it off to Daryl. She knew that she needed to dry her hair, but she didn’t want to use up all the dry space on their only towel before Daryl could dry himself off. Daryl dried himself and briefly rubbed the towel over his hair just so that it wasn’t dripping everywhere as much. He gave it back to Connie who quickly squeezed as much water out of her hair as she possibly could. When she was done she tossed it onto the counter and grabbed Daryl, practically dragging him into the bedroom.

She pulled back the covers on the bed before pushing Daryl down onto the bed and crawled on top of him. She loved the smile he had on his face as she crawled up to kiss him, her body hovering over his. She knew her hair was going to be a nightmare tomorrow because she hadn’t taken the time to comb it, but right now she couldn’t bring herself to care. She was too focused on the handsome man beneath her right now. Daryl rolled them over so that she under him, his slowly hardening cock bumping against her inner thigh.

She pushed him up as that she could move back into the center of the bed, her head coming to rest on Daryl’s pillows. She thought that he was going to come after her immediately, but instead he made a face like he’d suddenly remembered something and got off the bed. He walked over to the closet in the far side of the room and pulled out a bag. He’d remembered one of the couples at Alexandria had asked him to try to find more condoms for them while he was out a few months ago, but they’d ended up getting pregnant before he returned with them. He was kind of happy about that since their unexpected pregnancy was now helping him out.

When Connie saw what he had grabbed, she smiled widely at him. She was wondering how they were going to handle the whole avoiding pregnancy thing, but now they didn’t have to worry about it. She liked the idea of Daryl not having to hurry to pull out in the heat of the moment or them worrying about her getting pregnant. The condoms were really old so there was always a chance of something happening, but it was less likely with the condom.

He got up from the floor and made his way back over to the bed, throwing the condom down by her hip. Grinning, she spread her legs as an invitation for him to come lay between her legs and he whimpered at the sight. His eyes were drawn immediately to her open pussy shining with how wet she was for him. He felt his cock jump from half hard to nearly full mast within a few seconds at the welcoming sight. He happily accepted her invitation and came to rest in between her open legs, his cock pressing against her center.

He braced his upper body with his arms on either side of her head as he leaned down to kiss her. She grabbed either side of his face and kissed him deeply. She rocked her hips against his cock and loved the vibrations of his moans against her lips. He broke the kiss and moved away to kiss down her neck instead, listening closely to her moans of pleasure. He stopped his downward movement to suck on the junction of her shoulder and neck and savored the groan he dragged from him. Once he was pleased with the hickey he left on her neck, he continued downward, leaving chaste, soft kissing in his wake.

He finally stopped on his end goal, her breasts. Her nipples were hard with her arousal and he wasted no time in taking one into his mouth. Connie cried out in pleasure and surprise when he took her left nipple into his mouth, his tongue swirling around it and sucking. One of his hands ran down the side of her neck and took her other nipple between his fingers. His fingers flicked over her nipple as he sucked on the other one. Eventually, he switched sides and brought his other hand down and sent the first hand back up to support him.

He listened to her moans rise in pitch as he sucked on her nipple and let his hand play with the other one. His hand traveled lower and his lips followed the path of his hand. He sat back on his haunches as he kissed down her body. He could feel her shivering with pleasure as he reached his final destination, her pussy. He know he’d done it in the shower, but he wanted to make sure she was ready for him. He didn’t know the last time she’d been with someone. It could’ve been before the turn which means she might need some extra prep so that it doesn’t hurt when he finally enters her.

He licked a bold stripe from her entrance up to her clit, flicking his tongue against it when he got there. She gasped as she felt his tongue on her again. She honestly couldn’t believe that he was doing this for her for a second time in the same night. Most of her previous boyfriends hated doing this for her even though they’d loved it when she gave them blow jobs. The fact that Daryl seemed to want to and enjoy doing this made her even wetter for him and groaned loudly. She rocked her hips against his mouth, encouraging his actions and whimpered when she felt him chuckle against her labia.

It wasn’t long before Daryl added a finger into the mix wanting to open her up with his fingers first. She gasped when she felt his finger against her entrance, gently pushing against her opening. She moaned and pushed down on the finger wanting it in her. She knew what he wanted to do and she appreciated that he wanted to make sure she was ready for him instead of just rushing in. It had been a long time since she’d had anyone or anything inside of her.

Taking her enthusiasm as consent, he pushed his finger inside of her slowly, listening for any signs of discomfort, but heard none. He began thrusting his finger in and out of her, groaning against her clit at the wet heat around his finger. He felt her tap his arm that was still laying across her stomach and he lifted his head to see what she wanted. She held up two fingers and curled them in the air. He understood what she wanted immediately and nodded. Whatever she wanted, he would give her. He would be content spending the rest of his life making her happy in every aspect of her life.

He added another finger, again listening for any signs of discomfort and hearing none. He curled his fingers and listened as she whimpered in pleasure as he pushed firmly against her sweet spot. He rubbed his fingers back and forth across that spot while sucking firmly on her clit, making her arch her back in pleasure. He thrust his fingers in and out of her body listening to the squelch his fingers were making in her juices. Her legs shook as her moans rose in pitch and her breath turned ragged as she came on his fingers, her back arched up to the sky.

Daryl thrust his fingers in and out gently to help her ride out her orgasm as her moans returned to their normal pitch. He breathing evened out and her torso relaxed back onto the bed. He crawled back up to face and kissed her deeply. Now that he was sure she was ready for him, he could feel how painfully neglected his cock was. It was throbbing in need at this point, but he continued to ignore it in exchange for making out with Connie.

She felt his cock bump against her inner thigh and she knew how neglected it probably was, so she reached one of her hands down to wrap around his cock. She felt Daryl growl against her lips the second her hand came into contact with his cock. She started to jerk his cock enjoying pulling moans and groans of pleasure from him. She placed her free hand on top of his Adam's apple wanting to feel the full vibration of his voice when he made a noise and was pleased to feel exactly how much she was affecting him.

He pushed her hand away wanting to finally be inside of her. This is what all the foreplay over the last hour or so was leading up to and he wanted to make it perfect for her. He sat up and grabbed the condom from beside her and tore open the package. He was surprised when her hands entered his field of vision and took the condom from him. He looked up at her and nearly choked on his own spit when she licked her hand rubbed it up and down his cock before rolling the condom on him. Daryl placed a hand behind her neck and kissed her as he pushed her back onto the bed.

She immediately wrapped her legs around his waist, biting her lip as she looked down between their bodies. She could see his cock hanging just above her pussy and she desperately wanted to just flip them over and ride him, maybe she would later, but she wanted to be surrounded by him right now. He braced himself on his elbows over her and kissed her as he thrust against her soaked core. Finally tiring of all the wonderful teasing and foreplay, Connie reached down between them and grabbed his cock, pressing the tip against her entrance. He got the message and replaced her hand with his so that she could use her hand to press against his Adam’s apple instead. She wanted to feel every noise he made when he entered her at last.

He pressed the head of his cock against her entrance and he finally started to enter her. Daryl growled deep in his throat as the head of his cock slipped in and was enveloped by her wet heat. She moaned loudly in his ear as she felt him continue to push in slowly. She was surprised at how well her body was taking him after not having sex for so long. She felt no pain, only pleasure as he pushed inside her pliant body. He didn’t stop pushing until he bottomed out inside her, his balls resting against her ass.

He waited for her consent to start moving before he began thrusting because he wanted to make sure she was fully adjusted to having his cock inside her. When he felt her roll her hips back against him, he knew he could start thrusting. He began with a slow and steady speed to ease them into it. He felt her legs wrap around his back and urge him faster. He happily complied, letting his head fall and rest on her shoulder. His started slamming into her body, jerking her up the bed with each thrust, spurred on by her moans. He growled into her ear and hoped that she could feel the effect she was having on him through the hand resting on his throat.

He felt her free hand grab his shoulder, her nails biting into his skin. With each thrust, she was pushing back against him. Her back arched off the bed as he hit that special spot inside her with every thrust. He ducked his head and latched onto one of her nipples, sucking the soft flesh into his mouth. Her moans started rising in pitch and he could feel her pussy tightening around him. She screamed as she came convulsing underneath him. He didn’t stop wanting to draw another orgasm from her if her could, but he did slow his pace so that she could recover. His orgasm in the shower had really taken the edge off for him, so he wasn’t ready for this to be over just yet.

He could tell she was sensitive and he opened his mouth to ask if she wanted to stop, but she just grabbed the back of his head and kissed him, rolling her hips against him. He felt her tense beneath him and suddenly they were rolling. He yelped at the sudden shift, but didn’t try to stop her. He was happy to be on the bottom if that’s what she wanted. The position didn’t really matter to him as long as he was with her.

He looked up at her and the sight above him took his breath away. He’d been so focused on bringing her physical pleasure, he’d almost forgotten to admire just how beautiful she was covered in a sheen of sweat with his cock buried deep inside of her. The light on the ceiling above them made a halo of light around her head. She smiled down at him, biting her bottom lip as she started undulating against him, his cock still inside her. He threw his head back moaning out to the ceiling as she moved above him.

Soon enough she started bouncing on his cock, her hands pressing against his chest. She looked down at the man beneath her, completely surrendering to her being above him, controlling every aspect of their love making. Most men she’d been with never fully let her be in charge, always constantly controlling her in some way. She was loving being with Daryl in every way, physically and emotionally. He was a good man who treated her with more respect and love than any man she’d ever been with before.

Her train of thoughts spurred her on to ride him harder. His hands shot up to hold onto her hips, but still not in a controlling way. It was more like he was holding on for dear life and the idea made her smile and bit her lip. She leaned down over him, still bouncing up and down on his hard cock. She grabbed one of his hands and moved it up to cup her breast and soon both of his hands were teasing her nipples just the way she liked. She leaned down and kissed him, happy when he started thrusting upward to match her pace.

She could feel herself moaning out to the room as they thrust against each other, each chasing after their nearing ends while still trying to remain attentive to each other. She grabbed one hand back from her chest and held it against her waist. His other hand stayed on her breast much to her pleasure. Her free hand moved to his throat, wanting to feel his voice when he came inside of her.

She could feel his voice was climbing in octave and she knew hers was probably doing the same. That meant they were both inching closer and closer to their climaxes, both of them trying to get the other off first. She yelled out as Daryl slammed home against her most sensitive spot over and over. She could feel the heat pooling in the pit of her stomach for the third time tonight and her pussy started to tighten around his cock once again. Her eyes slid closed and her nails dug into the hand on her waist as she came, riding Daryl with his hand pinching her nipple with just the right amount of pressure.

She felt a burst of vibrations against her fingers and then Daryl slammed his cock in as deep as he could and held himself there. She could feel his cock pulsating inside of her as he spilled into the condom. She let herself collapse forward into Daryl’s arms, his softening cock still inside of her. He wrapped his arms around her sweaty, limp body and gently maneuvered her lay beside him, his oversensitive cock slipping out of her body. He reached down pulled off the condom, tying it up and tossing it into the trash can beside the bed.

He looked over at Connie who was staring up at him from where she laid beside him. She lifted up just enough for him to be able to slip an arm under her body to pull her closer. He kissed her forehead and rubbed her shoulder. She dragged two fingers gently across his jawline, staring deep into his eyes. There was love in his eyes, shining as clear as day to her. She pushed herself up to kiss him passionately, wanting to convey the depth of her feelings to him.

When she pulled away, she noticed him start to say something.

“I love you,” he whispered, staring down at her.

Her eyes widened in shock at his sudden admission. She hadn’t expected him to tell her that this soon, but she was elated that she wasn’t the only one who’d fallen fast and hard.

She looked at him meaningfully and signed,_ “I love you.” _

He understood what she was saying and kissed her deeply before settling down next to her. He pulled the covers up and over their sweaty bodies and they drifted off to sleep wrapped up in each other’s arms.


	7. Morning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am currently accepting Daryl/Connie fic ideas!  
Leave me a comment or send me a message on my Tumblr @thehunter_and_theninja if you’ve got an idea you’d like to see brought to life. :)

Connie woke up feeling more relaxed than she had in a long time. She could feel the warm body of someone sleeping next to her. She blinked her eyes opened and jumped a little when the dark skin of her sister didn’t greet her. She noticed she was naked and slowly the previous night came back to her. She bit her lip and grinned as her time with Daryl flooded her mind. She looked down at the man next to her. She could feel his arm wrapped around her waist underneath her, his other arm laid out across the empty bed. His hair was all over his face, hiding it from her view.

Annoyed by this, she carefully moved his hair out of his face. He looked so at peace while he was sleeping, such a stark contrast to how he was just yesterday at the Kingdom. She knew her own hair wasn’t anywhere near as soft, but just as messy. She was really not looking forward to styling it after forgoing brushing it last night. The sex had surely only made it worse. She also knew her breath probably reeked, but in the moment, she didn’t care. She knew from his stories about living out in the woods for five years that he probably wouldn’t care if she was covered in walker guts right now.

She kissed his temple before moving down to place kisses along the length of his face. Her fingers found a home resting on his throat, waiting to feel his voice as he woke up. She could taste the saltiness of his sweat from last night and moaned lightly at it. She noticed his eye twitch signaling that he was waking up. She felt the vibrations of his groan as he slowly rose to consciousness. She saw his eyebrows furrow and she figured he was confused by the little kisses she was leaving on his face.

His eye open and he swiveled his head to the side to see who was in bed with him. His confusion dissipated as soon as his eyes landed on her. He smiled and she felt his arm around her rub her side.

“Good morning,” he said, looking up at her.

She kissed him on the mouth as a response, her body rising to bend her torso over him. She felt his free hand in her hair and she moaned against his lips. His hand on her waist slid up, caressing her back and pulling her closer. It was like he couldn’t get enough of her and the feeling was mutual. Without breaking the kiss, she pushed her body up and over to straddle him. She could feel his morning wood press against the curve of her ass and she grinned, breaking their kiss.

She reached over beside them and grabbed a condom from where Daryl had thrown the box last night. He was just watching her as she tore the package open with her teeth. His lips were parted slightly and he looked almost like he was in a trance as watched her. She shuffled back on him so that his cock came into her view. In one fluid motion she rolled the condom onto him before moving back so that his cock was pressing against her entrance. His hands came up to rest on her hips and she bit her lip and he let his head fall back as she slid down on him.

She groaned as she felt him fill her once again, hitting all the right places. She leaned down so that their torsos were only inches apart as she kissed him. She slowly started rocking back and forth, keeping the pace slow, languid, loving. She kept that pace and kissed him the whole time. They were practically panting into each others mouths as they came, Daryl’s nails digging into her waist and hers into his chest.

Once they were done, they shower together again to wash the scent of sex off of them and to help her poor hair. They did have another short session in the shower, but eventually they did stop and get ready for the day. Daryl had been the last to leave the bathroom and was surprised to come out to Connie meticulously brushing her hair while wearing one of his few clean shirts. He pulled on his own clothes as he watched her tend to her hair, pulling it back into her signature messy bun. Every time both her arms rose above her head, he got a sneak peek of her ass and he swallowed hard. If he was younger, he could’ve gotten it up again, but he wasn’t young anymore and between this morning and last night, he was done for the day... probably.

She smiled at him through the mirror and he blushed when he realized he’d been caught looking. She pulled on her underwear and pants before taking the shirt off to reveal she’d already put her bra on. Daryl couldn’t help but stare as she slid his shirt off in favor of pulling on her black tank top. She smiled softly at him and walked over to kiss him. She was happy he was so smitten with her that he couldn’t keep his eyes off of her.

_ “We’ll have to go on a run for more condoms,” _ she wrote and his face turned beat red as he read it.

Daryl sighed glancing over at the clock on his desk. It was already 9 am and he knew that if they didn’t show up to breakfast someone would come looking for them.

“Time to face the world,” he said sadly, he could honestly spend days with just her in this room.

She nodded and put her notebook away, _ “Kelly will be looking for me.” _

“Yeah, I’d rather not be in arm reach when you tell her what we did last night and this morning,” Daryl admitted. 

He knew that Connie truly loved him now, but he was wary about how the rest of her family would feel about their relationship. They hadn’t come for him after she told them about the kiss, but sex was a different matter.

She just smiled and shook her head, _ “They’re not going to do anything.” _

He snorted in disbelief, “Don’t worry, I’m ready for the for shovel talks I’m sure to get.”

She rolled her eyes at him, but dropped the issue. Daryl kissed her one last time before they exited the room and Daryl was happier than ever that his bedroom was down a side corridor and not out in the open.

* * *

When they arrived at the breakfast hall, Daryl was immediately jumped on by a bunch of people wanting to know what to do next. He threw her an apologetic glance before following them knowing if he didn’t they’d just keep interrupting them. She waved his concern off and pointed to Kelly waving her over. His face had paled a little, but he just wished her good luck.

Connie made her way over to Kelly and the rest of her family after grabbing pancakes and some apples from the buffet table. She placed her plate down and tried to pretend like everything was normal. She knew her family was suspicious of why she hadn’t come back to her and Kelly’s room last night and had arrived with Daryl this morning, but she tried to stave off the inevitable questions. After their extensive activities, she was really hungry and thirsty, downing almost half her water in one go.

Kelly watched her sister suspiciously as she drank her water like she’d just run a marathon. Her eyes rolled over her sister to make sure she was okay and that’s when she noticed the hickey on her neck. Kelly’s eyes widened and she gasped, her hand flying over her mouth immediately. Connie caught the flurry of movement and glanced over at her sister. One look at her expression and Connie knew that Kelly had figured it out.

_ “Kelly, what is it?” _ Magna asked immediately, concerned by her sudden outburst.

_ “Connie had sex with Daryl!” _ she signed frantically.

The entire table turned to zero in on Connie who was trying to calmly enjoy her pancakes and ignore her family.

_ “You what?!?” _ Luke signed wildly, waving his arm in front of her face to get her attention.

Connie could feel her face reddening as they all kept asking her if it was true.

_ “Look at her neck,” _ Kelly told them, _ “She’s got a hickey.” _

Connie’s eyes widened, she’d totally forgotten about Daryl giving her that. She wasn’t mad at him for doing it, she just wished she’d remembered to try to hide it. She realized that her hickey was probably how Kelly had figured it out so fast.

_ “Fine,” _ Connie admitted, _ “Kelly’s right.” _

The shocked faces of her family was a little funny, but she was worried about the people around them noticing and wondering what they were so excited about. She pressed her finger to her lips as a sign for them to calm down. They immediately obeyed her and stopped shouting with their hands.

_ “How?” _ Kelly asked her at a loss for words.

Connie shrugged, _ “Things got heated between us last night and we both wanted it, so we let it happen.” _

_ “You were safe right?” _ Yumiko asked, _ “There aren’t exactly an abundance of condoms anymore.” _

Connie blushed deeply, _ “He had some in his bag.” _

_ “Really?” _ Kelly’s eyebrow shot up, _ “I thought you told me he hasn’t been with anyone since before the turn.” _

_ “Maybe they were supposed to be for another couple and they just never got to them,” _ Connie suggested.

She’d been surprised when he’d pulled the condoms out of his bag too, but she was much happier in that moment that he had them. The “pulling out” method of contraception is annoying and ruined the flow of events for her. Even if they had taken condoms from another couple, Daryl could always just say he didn’t find any. They’d used that method in the shower this morning, but it definitely isn’t her favorite method.

_ “How was he?” _ Kelly asked wiggling her eyebrows.

Connie kicked her sister lightly under the table and threw her a half hearted glare.

_ “Oh come on,” _ Kelly said returning the kick, _ “you can’t tell us you had sex for the first time since before the turn and not give us details.” _

Connie sighed knowing her sister would pester her until she got answers, the same goes for the rest of her family actually.

_ “It was amazing every time,” _ she revealed, her eyes flicking over to Daryl briefly.

Connie covered her mouth with her hand when she realized what she’d said.

_ “Every time?” _ Magna caught her slip up, _ “Exactly how many times did you do it? _

Connie bit her lip and held up three fingers. Kelly’s mouth dropped open at the revelation from her sister.

_ “Oh my god,” _ Kelly signed gobsmacked, _ “Are you **trying** to make me into an aunt again?” _

Connie giggled at her sister’s reactions.

_ “Not yet,” _ Connie teased and Kelly just about lost it while their entire family laughed.

* * *

Daryl was busy pouring over maps trying to decide on the best area to extend Hilltop’s walls for a new garden when he heard someone enter Maggie’s office. He glanced up and noticed that it was Kelly and he immediately braced himself for whatever she was about to say. He’d known that at least one person in her family would come talk to him about his and Connie’s relationship today. He’d already gotten shovel talks from Magna and Yumiko who, unfortunately for his sanity, decided to give him the talk together.

“Hey,” Daryl greeted Kelly as she closed the door behind her.

“Hey,” she replied, appearing nervous about their impending conversation.

“I know why you’re here,” he said trying to break the tension, “I know you want to talk about me and Connie.”

She nodded and came to stand in front of the desk. He decided after a moment to stay sitting as to not appear intimidating since he was much taller than her.

“I just want to know what your intentions are with Connie,” Kelly began, “She’s never done well with heartbreak.”

Daryl nodded, “I can’t say for sure where our relationship is headed, but I know that I love your sister. I have since we went off after Henry together.”

His response seemed to ease Kelly’s mind a little and she relaxed.

“That’s good,” she said sitting down in one of the chairs in front of the desk, “Connie’s last boyfriend, David, was horrible.”

Daryl cocked his head and waited patiently for Kelly to continue.

“She loved him, but he was a bastard. He was constantly cheating on her with other women, but he hid it well around Connie. I kept trying to tell her, but love makes you blind sometimes,” Kelly revealed, hanging her head and playing with her hand, “It wasn’t until some woman she’d never met before showed up at their apartment claiming that she was pregnant with David’s baby that she realized that I’d been telling the truth. Connie had just found out she was pregnant too and what should've been a happy time for her turned sour. The bastard ran off on both Connie and the stranger the next day without so much as a note.”

Daryl felt his heart break for Connie as Kelly told him about her last romantic partner.

“I promise that I will never intentionally hurt your sister, “ he assured Kelly, “If I, at any time, don’t come back to her, know that I didn’t leave her. The only thing that could keep me from coming home to her would be death.”

Kelly looked up at him and he could see the tears in her eyes. He got up without hesitation and pulled her into a hug. He let her cling to him as she took in his promise to never abandon or hurt her sister. She pulled away from him and wiped her eyes.

“Thank you,” she choked out.

“I’m not going to lie and say I’m perfect,” Daryl admitted, “I’ve never been in a serious relationship and I’m probably going to fuck up at some point, but I promise to never do it intentionally.”

She nodded in understanding, “I know it won’t be perfect, but I never want you to stop trying. Promise me that if anything ever goes wrong you’ll just talk to her.”

“I promise,” Daryl assured her, “Your sister means the world to me, Kelly.”

Kelly smiled and hugged him one last time before getting up to leave.

“I’m going to hold you to that,” she warned him as she left the room.

* * *

_ “My family wasn’t too bad, were they?” _ Connie asked Daryl as they stood together on Barrington’s balcony, watching the sunset.

“No worse than I thought they would be,” Daryl replied.

She smiled and shook her head, looking back out at the setting sun. Daryl touched her shoulder to bring her attention back to him.

_ “Kelly told me about David,” _ he admitted, not wanting to hide it from Connie that he knew about Dre’s father.

Connie honestly wasn’t surprised that Kelly had told him. That relationship had ended horribly for her and she knew Kelly never wanted her to go through something like that again.

_ “I promise not to never do what he did to you,” _ Daryl signed.

He’d looked up how to say that and practiced it a few times before going to find Connie and bring her up here.

_ “I trust you,” _ she said honestly, writing out the second half, _ “You’re nothing like him. He was selfish and obsessed with only what he wanted. I can already see how different the two of you are.” _

Daryl smiled as she assured him that she didn’t believe he was capable of behaving like her ex. He pulled her against his side and they held each other as they gazed out over the sunset. He’d realized he loved her for the first time while they were gazing out at a sunset just like this one on the docks of Alexandria not that long ago. It was only fitting that they should spend their first date night as a true couple watching the sunset together. It was almost like the dying light of the sun was mirroring the end of their time alone as they embraced each other on the balcony of their home.


End file.
